Cloves and Fedoras: Like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ty tells you the definitive movie to watch (hint it is not the new one)

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture (or older pieces).  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known. 

As a kid, I loved the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I mean I was obsessed. I had all the action figures and the toys attached with the action figures. Hell, I even had a Ninja Turtle back pack at some point during elementary school. You all know who I'm talking about when I talk about the Turtles. Leonardo, my favorite and the responsible one of the group, Michaelangelo, the prankster of the group, Donatello, the smart, engineer and inventor of the group and Raphael, the strong, bad boy loner of the group (ed note: What about my favorite - Splinter the Yoda like rat). As I got older, I, as most adults do, lost interest in "kid" things and my passions turned to sports and girls. It's kind of sad when I think about it now.  

The other day I was shopping for stuff at Target and I saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. The one from the 1990(pre-Vanilla Ice). I continued to shop, but going through the aisles all I could think about was buying the DVD. The inner child in me was beginning to come out and my passion for the Turtles was returning! The movie was only five dollars to boot. It definitely helps that I'm a father to a three year old boy that is now equally, if not more, obsessed with the Ninja Turtles. He and I were equally excited when I grabbed the DVD, showed it to my wife and proclaimed, "WE ARE BUYING THIS!" She was very happy as well. She is also a fan of the Ninja Turtles, I guess I married the right woman. So, first goal is achieved, myself, my wife and my son are all on board, excited and we purchase the movie. Next my wife and I decide we will watch it that night to see if it's appropriate for our son to watch. But, I was secretly concerned that it may not hold up and not only will it not be good for my child to watch, but adult me may not like it as much as kid me. This was a very big concern.

I'm here to tell you, if you were a fan as a kid and are now in your thirties, this movie 100 percent holds up. It's so damn good. I was as intrigued now as I was when I was a little kid. What made it even better, I actually understood the jokes and references the directors put in the movie for the adults. I also was able to spot a young Sam Rockwell playing a thug that sells cigarettes. I was pleased watching the movie remembering how dark it was. In the comics, the Ninja Turtles are put in many adult situations and they handle those in adult ways. The movie is pretty kid friendly, but some of the fight scenes are pretty brutal, with the Turtles and the Foot Clan taking some big time beatings. There is a whole scene where Raph gets his butt kicked by the Foot Clan and he takes a good beating. So bad in fact that Leonardo is relieved when Raph wakes up. Implying that Leo was worried that his friend may not wake up. That's dark for a kids movie. Casey Jones was pretty bad ass as well. He still had his patented goalie stick and Jason face mask and the writers of the movie decided to give him a baseball bat as well. He is also a super impressive fighter too. The fight scene when Raph runs into him in the park is really cool. The fact they made it look that real in a movie made in 1990 is pretty fantastic. April O'Neil was pretty cool in the movie too. She was an independent, funny journalist, who no matter what the circumstance, be it her house getting destroyed during a fight between the Foot Clan and Turtles, or her losing her job, she always stayed on the Turtles side and was happy and eager to help them. Splinter was classic Splinter. He treats the Turtles as if they're his children, which if you think about it they really are, and he just wants them to be safe. Shredder is pretty terrifying as well. He's very ominous and even captures and tortures Splinter early on in the movie. See what I'm saying when I say it's dark. This was everything I remember it being, but means so much more to me now. I still haven't shown it to my son yet being that it is pretty dark, but in a year or two I will show it to him. This was more for my wife and I. We were both very into it, so into it we didn't even play on our phones or chit chat during it, we just watched it.

Don't watch the new, terrible Michael Bay produced TMNT, watch the original from the nineties. You will not be disappointed.

Ty 

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He is one man with one love for early nineties superhero films and needs people to help him cover pop culture. Write for Seed Sing.

Follow Ty on twitter @tykulik

Cloves and Fedoras: If you love movies Ty says listen to Maltin on Movies

My podcast pick to talk about this week is Wolfpop's Maltin on Movies with co-host Baron Vaughn.

Each week, Leonard Maltin and Baron Vaughn take a subject and review three movies associated with the topic.  In the first segment they talk about a well known movie that they both enjoy. They tell you what they both like about the particular movie and why they think you should watch it. This weeks episode was titled Adult Cartoons, and they chose a French movie called Persepolis for their first segment. This movie takes place through the eyes of an Iranian French girl growing up through war times in Israel. I've never seen the movie before, but hearing the two of them talk about it, makes me want to watch it. According to Vaughn, it's a real tear jerker. In the second segment they talk about a movie neither of them like, or as they call it, a turkey. This segment might be my favorite. I like to hear them tear apart movies that almost no one likes. Both of them are very eloquent as well, so it doesn't sound like my friends and I ripping a movie apart. These two actually know what they're talking about. This week their turkey was Cool World. This movie sounds so bad that I want to watch it to see how bad it is. Apparently it was meant to be a horror cartoon, but the studio turned it into a dark noir comedy. Those words don't work together at all. The third and final segment, they talk about a sleeper movie. These movies are off the radar to most movie goers and not very well known, but highly regarded by both Vaughn and Maltin. I like the suggestions given during this part, because I hardly ever know what movie they're talking about, but every one that I've seen since I started this podcast, I've really enjoyed. The movie they mentioned this week is called Max and Mary. It's a story of friendship between two loners. One being a young outcast girl, Mary. The other, a 44 year old man with no family or friends named Max. According to Vaughn, this is a must watch, but it's very off beat and very dark at times. So, it may not be for everyone, but I'm going to check it out. The episodes come out every Wednesday and are no more than an hour long. They're 31 episodes in, but for movie buffs, this is a must listen.

I highly recommend it.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He loves movies and hearing people talk (or write) about movies.  Follow him on twitter @tykulik

Cloves and Fedoras: Ty thinks "Ex Machina" may be a vision of our near future

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

Yesterday I saw the film Ex Machina and I think it is a modern day Sci Fi cult classic.

Ex Machina is very small on the effects and relies more on the story telling, which is impeccable. The movie opens with a young employee named Caleb(Domhnall Gleeson) who works for a computer company called Blue Book. Caleb wins a grand prize via email to go to the company owner's, Nathan(Oscar Issac), secluded island. Caleb thinks it's just going to be a meet and greet type of thing, but it turns out that Nathan wants to have Caleb do a Turing test with a female robot named Ava(Alicia Vikander, in a star turning performance). Caleb is very on board with this idea, seeing how this could be a great opportunity not only for himself, but also for mankind. The movie is broken into seven sections, each one titled "Ava: Session One", "Ava: Session Two" and so on up to "Ava: Session Seven".  As the tests go on, we start to realize that Nathan may have brought Caleb to his island under false pretenses. Nathan may be a sociopath using his employees as "bait" for his female robot tests. As we get deeper into the movie, we see that Ava may have some tendencies of her creator and she may be playing a game with both Nathan and Caleb. This is a movie you need to go into, I'd recommend, not watching any trailers. If you've seen the trailers, take them with a grain of salt. This is not some type of erotic thriller. This is a disturbing type of horror movie about what life will be like in the not to distant future because lets face it, AI's will be here, if not in my lifetime, they will be here in my son and future daughter's lifetime (is that right Siri?). This a great piece of work done by first time director Alex Garland(writer of "28 Days Later"), so let's hope he gets a lot of work in the future. I don't want to say too much more about the plot because it is such a well written movie with lots of twists and turns that you don't see coming. People need to go see movies like this, so movies like this will continue to be made.

So, go see Ex Machina, let it wash over you and gaze into the horror of what the not to distant future is going to look like. We as a people are so obsessed with upgrading our electronic devices that the only thing left to upgrade is the human race, or as Nathan says in the movie (this is NOT a spoiler by the way), "Ava is not an upgrade, she's evolution"

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  Is that right Siri?  Damn Siri can't seem to connect right now.  Give him a follow on twitter @tykulik

Calling all MRAs, Ty has a few thoughts to share with you.

After the phenomenal "Mad Max: Fury Road" I did some internet research on the movie and read about some douche bags who call themselves "Men's Right Activists" that were complaining about the lead of the movie being female.

These guys are the WORST.

I can't believe some assholes are out there complaining that a female has a strong leading role in an action movie. First of all, Charlize Theron is a total badass in the movie, so what's the problem? She kicks as much ass and is as good, if not better, fighter than all of the men in the movie. Where do these "activists" get off complaining about anything that a women gets. Second point - being a man myself, I've gotten way more advantages in my life than an average female gets. I also get to enjoy these advantages and I'm a stay at home dad! My wife goes out there and works her ass off everyday to take care of our family and I couldn't love or adore her anymore for it. She wears the pants in our family and I have no problem with that at all. She brings home the bacon and fries it as well.

She's a boss.

The fact that these guys are out there complaining about women getting more than a man is an absolute joke. They sound like a bunch of ignorant, arrogant, self absorbed dick heads who've probably never kissed a girl before. What a bunch of dildos. I read some more about the "activists" and saw that they are also very concerned and upset about the all female cast of the new "Ghostbusters" movie. Once again I ask, what's the problem? If you want an all male cast of "Ghostbusters", you know what, they made a few of those already in the eighties and they are awesome (ed note - Ghostbusters is awesome, Ghostbusters 2 is ok). Just go and watch those movies and keep your stupid mouths shut. I feel like, in today's culture, people just look for something to complain about. I mean, it's almost impossible, actually it is impossible, to make anything that the majority of people will be happy about. Someone somewhere will find something to gripe about. But, in rare occasions, you get insane people like "Men's Rights Activists".

The MRAs are some of the most difficult people in the world to understand and frankly, I hope they just stop talking so we never have to hear from idiots like this again.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing.  He enjoys being a stay at home dad and never engages in self loathing or being an idiot

Ty does not have enough thumbs to point up for Mad Max:Fury Road

"Mad Max: Fury Road" may be the greatest action movie made this year. Scratch that, it may be the greatest action movie EVER!

The movie opens with a voice over by Max(Tom Hardy) explaining the plight of the human race and then the action immediately begins. I will no relay some of the insanity. Max gets chased and captured by the War Boys who immediately tattoo his information(i.e. license number, blood type, organ donor, etc.) and are about to brand him, then he gets away, a huge fight ensues, only to have them capture him again and put him in some sort of birdcage. Then, the inhabitants of this post apocalyptic land meet to be given their instructions for the upcoming gas acquiring mission. Here we meet Imperator Furiosa(Charlize Theron). She's a total badass with a metal arm and a ton of firearms and ammunition. She also has a war rig, which is the best car to have in this society. Next we meet the leader/dictator Immortan Joe(Hugh Keays-Byrne) talking to the crowd, explaining the upcoming events and then giving the town a small taste of water, since it's so scarce. He's a terrifying looking bad guy and he's as mean as he looks. While going away on their mission Furiosa takes a detour, which we find out later that she's taking the young pregnant ladies(Breeders) somewhere safe. When Immortan Joe realizes what's happening, he sends his whole fleet of WarBoys out to capture her and bring her and his Breeders back. One of the WarBoys, Nux(Nicholas Hoult), is having blood transfused into him from Max, to keep him alive, and he's so excited to go and fight, he straps Max to the front of his car so the blood can continue to pump into him and he won't miss anything. While chasing Furiosa, they all get trapped in a sandstorm and many of the WarBoys meet their demise. This scene is so intense, with the constant color change and flashes of lightening, I thought I was going to have a seizure.

Now keep in mind, this is about the first twenty to twenty five minutes of the movie.

There are parts where they explain things and you get an idea of what Furiosa is really doing on her rogue mission, but I'd say about ninety to ninety five percent of the movie is straight action. The climatic scene was one of the greatest sequences of car chase, action and fighting I've seen in a movie in a really long time. It's epic. So, for my movie fans out there, there's two movies filled with action, that also happen to be good movies, this summer, "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and "Mad Max: Fury Road". I don't know which one I like better, but since I saw it today, I'd go with "Mad Max".

It's awesome

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He is going to sleep now because Mad Max: Fury Road took all his energy away today.  Seriously, go see this movie

Cloves and Fedoras: Review of a little gem featuring the greatest indie actors of yesterday and today - AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little known pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of undiscovered gems that must be known.

I know I usually review independent or small budget movies, but I recently saw Avengers: Age of Ultron and, oh man, was it fantastic!

I loved everything about this movie. The action is relentless. I love that about eighty to eighty-five percent of this movie was fighting, car chases, fights while in flight, etcetera. It was a seemingly endless array of action sequences. I also enjoy the fact that we got a little back story on Hawkeye. I was never a huge fan of Hawkeye as an avenger, I mean who cares about a sharp shooter when there's guys with crazy suits of armor, a super soldier and a doctor who turns into a big green super strong monster, but this movie made me like Hawkeye more than I thought was possible. The addition of Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch was great. Two new additions to a rather large buffet of heroes. I love it. The running time was about two and a half hours, but it flew by. I could have watched another two and half hours no problem. I loved every part of this movie, but there is one specific fight scene that's shot in slow motion, singling out every Avenger, that literally gave me goose bumps. It was incredible! James Spader as the voice of the evil robot Ultron was an excellent casting choice. I'm not that big a fan of his, but his voice acting was so good and creepy. A great role for him. Perfect choice.  Every person, everywhere needs to see this movie right now. It's phenomenal.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture Editor for Seed Sing.  He enjoys the quiet thoughtful films punctuated with explosions

Cloves and Fedoras: What We Do in the Shadows reviewed

What We Do in the Shadows is a 2014 "mockumentary" that follows the lives of three vampires and room mates in modern day New Zealand. The vampires, played by Jermaine Clement(Jermaine, Flight of the Conchords), Taika Waitti(director of many episodes of Flight of the Conchords) and Jonathan Brugh(first co starring role), have to deal with many modern day dilemmas that are very foreign to them since they've been around for centuries. This has to be one of the funniest movies I've seen in a long time. One of the opening scenes is a round table discussion of the three room mates arguing over their chore wheel. It's so funny, I was literally laughing out loud in the theater. To see these three argue over who has to clean the blood soaked dishes is priceless. The back stories of the three are pretty great as well. Vladislav(Jermaine Clement) is a 862 year old self proclaimed sex symbol and a world class hypnotizer. Although since his run in with "The Beast" his powers aren't as great as they once were. Viago is a 379 year old "fancy pants" vampire. He's concerned with keeping the house clean and organized and making his victims feel safe before he feeds on them. And then there's Deacon, my favorite, a 183 year old former Nazi vampire. His explanation of fleeing to New Zealand after the war is uproarious. Along the way you meet other vampire friends, some victims and a great back and forth between the vampires and their enemies, the werewolves. They make a human friend during the movie that helps them with all the modern technology. Things like cell phones and Facebook being taught to them is incredibly funny. If you're a fan of the Flight of the Conchords TV show, you'll love this movie and if you're a fan of comedy in general, you'll get a kick out of it as well. This film is HIGHLY recommended. Enjoy

Ty

Ty Kulik is the Pop Culture editor for Seed Sing.  He does not smoke any kind of cigarette and never wears a fedora

Cloves and Fedoras: Starred Up Reviewed

Cloves and Fedoras is Seed Sings reviews for little know pieces of pop culture.  Feel free to contact us with your own submissions of little gems that must be known.

I recently watched a little known movie from 2013 called Starred Up. The movie is about a troubled teen named Eric, played by Jack O'Connell(Unbroken), who is sent to an adult prison where he sees his father(Ben Mendelsohn, The Place Beyond the Pines) for the first time in 14 years. The movie opens with silence, you see a young man unloaded from a prison truck and he's being checked into a new prison. Upon arriving to his new bunk, he immediately makes enemies. He fights with an inmate whom he thinks is stealing his lighter. The inmate is so badly beaten that Eric believes he may have killed him. He takes him to the infirmary where Eric is met by a SWAT team. They proceed to fight him and in the midst of the fight, a counselor named Oliver (Rupert Friend, Mr.Wickham in Pride and Prejudice) tells the SWAT team to stop and that he wants to help him. Oliver takes him to his therapy sessions that he holds in the prison. There he meets some inmates that teach him that talking through the anger and that boxing properly can help him curb his appetite for aggression. His father is not pleased with his new group of inmate allies. He wants Eric to do his time and get out of prison so he can live his life. He doesn't want him making friends or joining gangs, just do his time and get out. Eric fights his father’s wishes and continues to train and take therapy. Some shocking revelations come to light involving his father and his father's crew, as well as some of the prison staff that I won't divulge as I feel people need to see this movie. There were times watching this movie I felt like I was watching a documentary. The prison and actors seemed so real. Jack O'Connel is a tour de force in his role. He's phenomenal to say the least. I highly, highly recommend this film. 

Ty

Ty Kulik is the Pop Culture editor of Seed Sing.  He does not smoke any kind of cigarette or wear a fedora.